It had been a few months since the trio’s departure from the hospital. They were finally enjoying the humdrum of their daily lives. Flutershy and Dash were ecstatic to come back and picked up their daughter, Shimmer Blitz, from Scootaloo’s home. The young Wonderbolt had done them a huge favor of caring for her while they were away. Even though Shimmer was growing into a young mare, she was still far too young to stay home alone for an extended period of time. They were proud and happy to be the young mare’s parents. But, like all parents dealing with teenagers, they were constantly butting heads with her while she was in the ‘parents suck’ stated. Unfortunately, the fact remained that they were both mares, and even though same-sex parental households were not an uncommon thing, their daughter for some reason threw the fact in their face as some sort of ammunition. Whether it was from some deep seated self-hate, they were unsure.
“Why did you guys make me?!” Shimmer shouted fiercely as she stomped an angry milky-blue hoof.
Dash and Fluttershy stared back at her briefly, before Fluttershy took a couple tentative steps towards her, “We didn’t make you baby…you were born, just like anyone else…” Fluttershy replied in a motherly tone.
“Yeah right…its not like Princess Twilight didn’t use a gender swap spell to give you a dick!” Shimmer shouted as she pointed at Dash.
Dash snorted and narrowed her eyes, “Tone that language in front of your mother, Shimmer Blitz!”
“What, because I said ‘dick’?” Shimmer retorted. “It’s not like I’m a little filly anymore. Gets used alllll the time in school.” She leered at her parents, brushing her rainbow dipped pink mane from her eyes, “You know what else I learned in school? In ‘Sex Ed’ specifically?”
Dash mirrored the leer, attempting to silence her daughter, though it went ignored.
“I learned that a mare and stallion make foals. Not two stallions, and damn sure not two mares!”
Fluttershy started to raise a hoof, “Shimm-”
“I’m a freak of nature! I’m an abomination, and I didn’t choose to be!” Shimmer raged on. “I didn’t choose to be made like this! A FREAK, MADE BY OTHER FREAKS!!”
The crack of hoof to skin contact echoed in the room. It took Shimmer a few moments to register the stinging sensation in her cheek. Dash looked on in shock at the sudden ferocity of her wife. Fluttershy looked down at her daughter, silent fury bubbling behind her eyes.
“You will not disrespect us like that while you live under our roof.” Fluttershy started, all traces of her Element gone from her voice. “We raised you to be far better than that.” She stook another step forward towards her shrinking daughter, “We have loved and cared for you, and treated you as well as any heterosexual couple would.”
“Shy-” Dash started.
“And sometimes, I think even better. At least, that’s what I thought until you started acting this way.”
“Flutters, babe-”
“You’ve been completely horrible to us, your own parents, just because of some little idiots you go to school with! You should’ve been defending us!”
“Flutt-”
“For years, we’ve dealt with the hate and ridicule by the very creatures we’ve protected with our very lives. And never in my years, did I think I would receive this same hatred by my own daughter!”
“Fluttershy!-”
“Well maybe, you should stop being such an ungrateful, selfish, disrespectful little monster, and just leave! GO AND MOVE OUT, IF IT BOTHERS YOU SO FUCKING MUCH TO HAVE US AS YOUR PARENTS!”
Dash clamped down onto one of Fluttershy’s shoulders, “Fluttershy, that’s ENOUGH!!”
But it was too late.
The rage seeped from Fluttershy’s frame as she took in the absolute hurt in Shimmer’s eyes. The light blue teenager blinked back tears and turned away. She galloped up the stairs and towards her bedroom, the door slamming shut behind her. Fluttershy put a hoof to her lips as the door’s locked clicked. She looked at Dash in abject horror, who gave her a look of angered disappointment before trotting up the stairs. What had she done? Why had she snapped ed her the only pony she more love for, than her own wife? Her vision began to blur with unshed tears. She had hurt Shimmer, and it would be a long time, if ever, before her daughter forgave her. She quickly made her way up the stairs and was about to knock on Shimmer’s door, only for her hoof to be locked into a grip by one of Dash’s. Her wrist writhed in the cyan Pegasus’ grip. While she had the muscular strength to snap a bear’s bones back into proper alignment, she was simply not as strong as the Captain of the Wonderbolts, who had been at the peak of physical performance nearly all of her life.
“Leave Shimmer be.” Dash ordered in the same way she ordered the Wonderbolts under her leadership. “She’s not going to hear anything that comes out of our mouths right now…”
“But…I did a terrible thing…I need to apologize-”
“No!” Dash hissed. “Just wait…okay?” her eyes softened. “You hurt her, and I know you feel bad…but I’m telling you, she’s not going to believe you. Not right now.
Fluttershy’s form deflated in defeat. “Alright…”
Dash rubbed her back in a soothing motion, “She may be pissed at us right now, but you’re still her mother. Despite all of ‘this’, she still loves you. She’s just going to through that ‘angry teen’ phase.”
Fluttershy gave a small nod, a tiny smile on her face blooming as Dash placed a soft kiss on her forehead. The two drifted away from their daughter’s bedroom, and made their way to their own.
-MLP-
“Why’s it my fault? Why do I have to leave, when they made me like this?” Shimmer bitterly mumbled to herself. “I want to be normal…just like everyone else. I can’t even make a lot of friends with other mares…cuz’ they think ‘filly fooling’ is in my blood or something…” she smacked her hoof in frustration. “It’s not fair! I’m not a filly fooler! I just want to be normal!”
The moonlight began to shine brightly in her room as she felt a presence enter her room through the window,
“Why do you weep, little one?” a ghost of a voice whispered.
Shimmer sniffled and turned as the Guider looked on quizzically. Shivers rumbled up Shimmer’s spine at the power that radiated from the mare.
“Its just…” the milky blue pony rubbed her eyes, “I just wished I was normal.”
Guider gracefully sat on her haunches and looked at her intently, silently inviting her to continue.
“Well, I mean, I look like a normal pony. And I feel like a normal pony…but I know I’m not.”
“And why do you believe that to be so, little one?”
“Because I’m a freak of nature!” Shimmer shouted, as if she expected the mare to know. “The adults think its cool that I’m ‘the daughter of Rainbow Dash And Fluttershy’, a ‘child of the Elements of Harmony’, the ‘Wonderbolt Captain’s Kid’! You’d think that that’d be cool…but even if I had a regular ‘Mom and Dad’ like everyone else, that’d suck too, because then I’d have to try to live up to their expectations, and I’ll never make it out of their shadow!” she shook her head, “Doesn’t matter. I’m not normal, and all the kids in school know that. They call me a ‘monster’!” she put her face into her hooves, “Why? Why couldn’t I just be normal…”
She felt a hoof gently place itself on her shoulder and looked up. Though she cooking see Guider’s face, she could feel the smile that was being given to her.
“My little one…I think you’re normal…I don’t think anything is wrong with you.” Guider got closer and sat on the bed next to her, “You look like a normal pony, act like a normal pony, and you do things normal ponies do. And yes…while you’re definitely special…it doesn’t mean you’re different. At least, not in the negative way you’re speaking of.”
Shimmer gave her a small smile, “Thanks…” she stared into the glowing orbs looking back at her, “Who are you anyway?”
“The Guider of the Lost and the Wandering…” Guider introduced herself. “Your tears of suffering drew me to you. Now, I’m here to wipe those tears away, and to calm the storm in your soul…”
“The storm in my soul?” the young mare repeated.
Guider nodded, “I can see it now…for years, you have dealt with this inner turmoil. You wish for a different life. Unfortunately…the thing you wish to change, cannot be done in this realm…”
Her cerise orbs darkened, “I know…”
“But…this is not a weight you need to continue to endure.”
The teen blinked in confusion, “What do you mean?”
Guider slunk away from her and stood by the window, “I wish to offer you something…a chance to start over. A normal life, that you can have for…forever…”
Shimmer beamed, “Really?! I can be normal?!”
Guider nodded, “Yes…the most amazing things your mind can conjure up, can be at the tip at your hooves, if you wish it.”
The moon started to glow bright, and yet another pony entered the room. A brown Unicorn colt that Shimmer had considered one of her closest friends until a sickness brought an end to his life.
“Big Idea?” she asked tearfully, “Is that you?!”
Big Idea nodded, his thick orange mane bouncing with each head movement. “I knew that feeling too…having two stallions as my parents. They were shunned even more than your parents. Seems like two stallions is worse than two mares…” she looked over at the Guider, “But she gave me the chance to start again, and now, I’m having the best time I’ve ever had. Ever would’ve had!” he stated excitedly.
Shimmer smiled, the prospect of starting fresh simply delighting her. Granted, deep down, she loved Dash and Fluttershy, but she didn’t feel right. She didn’t feel normal. And like anyone her age, she yearned for acceptance from her peers. She stood up on her mattress and spread her wings.
“I wanna go with you!” she whispered happily. Guider floated out the window, her forelegs open. Big Idea joined her.
“Join me, my child…” she cooed softly.
Without hesitation, Shimmer flung herself into Guider’s forelegs. They wrapped around her as she felt herself get light, her world glowing into a brilliant white…